


Caroling

by Hisa_Ai



Series: 31 Days of Christmas [20]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: 31 Days of fic, AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Christmas Caroling, Christmas prompts, Christmas traditions, Day 20, M/M, Modern Day, Prompt Fic, Yule, caroling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-20
Updated: 2013-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-05 09:17:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1092205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hisa_Ai/pseuds/Hisa_Ai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin is making Arthur go caroling with all their friends, but Arthur is a stubborn child about the whole thing and refuses at first. And even when Merlin convinces him to go... Well, he doesn't have to enjoy it. Except he does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Caroling

* * *

 

"Merlin, this is stupid and I'm not going." Arthur insisted, crossing his arms with the stubbornness of his declaration. Of all the demeaning, childish, idiotic ideas he had  _ever_  heard in his lifetime, he was pretty sure _this one_  took the cake.

"It's  _not_  stupid and you  _are_  going." Merlin told him, shaking his head as pulled on some atrocious Christmas jumper Gwen had given him the week before.

Arthur scoffed at the mere  _notion_  that Merlin thought for even  _half_  a second that he was going to do this. No, he had done a lot at Merlin's request over the years, but this— _this_  was where he would draw the line.

"It is and I am not." He insisted once more.

Merlin sighed, threw Arthur's Christmas jumper at him and stood with his hands on his hips when he just let it fall to the floor, not bothering to catch it or even pretend to. No. He would not do it. Not now, not ever.

"Come on, Arthur, Gwen asked us to do this for her."

"And I said no."

"And  _I_ said yes. So we're going."

"I don't want to."

"Sometimes, Arthur, we have to do things we don't want to to keep those we care about  _happy_."

"It's Lance's job to keep Gwen happy, not mine."

"But it  _is_  your job to keep  _me_  happy."

"And it's  _yours_  to keep  _me_  happy."

"I made you plenty happy last night, if I recall correctly."

"Now that's not—"

" _Arthur_." Merlin interrupted pointedly, walking over and picking up the dark red sweater from the ground. He thrust it into Arthur's arms without warning, glaring at him until he held it himself. "It is  _not_  the end of the world. Put on the sweater, go with me to meet up with everyone else, spend a few hours doing this, and then we can come home and you can forget all about it, all right? I'll even make some of those cookies you love so much when we get back— _if_  you're good." He promised, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

Arthur, however, would not be swayed with mere promises of chocolaty goodness. Not for something as, as demeaning as  _this_. There was just no way.

"No. Not happening."

"Stop being such a stubborn child about this. Honestly, Arthur," Merlin rolled his eyes. "I've seen five-year-olds sway easier than this."

"Five-year-olds can be  _bought_ ," Arthur snapped. "Five-year olds have no dignity, no self-respect. They have absolutely  _no problem_  going up to—to  _random_  people and  _singing_  to them. Its—it's childish and demeaning and I will have no part of it." He stated with the tone of one not to be argued with.

Merlin, of course, never did let him get his way that easily.  _Especially_  not when he thought Arthur was just being a stubborn prat about everything—though he was plenty justified in his objections to this request. Merlin  _had_  to see that.

"It's traditional," Merlin told him gently, and Arthur was almost sure he was edging towards  _treating_  him like a five-year old now. If he weren't so upset, so adamant about not going  _caroling_ , he might have taken offense to his tone, his approach to the situation. But, one battle at a time. "And anyway, everyone else is doing it," he shrugged.

"Are you trying to use  _peer pressure_  to get me to do this?" Arthur laughed, amused against his anger and indignation. "You do know we've had it drilled into our heads our whole lives not to do something just because everyone else is doing it? Don't you remember all those god-awful assemblies we had to sit through? Were you one of those kids who would have jumped off the bridge if everyone else was doing it?" he asked, tone too serious.

"No, shut up," Merlin shoved his arm playfully. "I was the kid trying to stop them from jumping off the bridge in the first place. And if they did it anyway… At least I tried," he shrugged with amusement.

"So how did you go from trying to talk them down to shoving them off?"

"Are you  _really_  equating Christmas caroling to suicide and attempted murder?"

"It's an honest question!"

"I fell in love with  _you_ , you prat. Your whole… dollophead thing must have rubbed off on me."

"I've  _never_  tried to convince someone to—"

" _Arthur,"_  Merlin cut him off, grinned too wide, threw his hands up in the air in finality and then placed them on his hips. _"Put. The. Sweater. On._  We leave in ten minutes. Gwaine, Percy, Leon, Elyan, Gwen, Lance, and Morgana are going to be waiting for us up the corner. I will not argue with you about this anymore." Merlin told him, all the joking gone from his tone.

Arthur let out a groan of resignation, put the stupid jumper on with a huff and glared at Merlin for the next ten minutes, grumbling under his breath the whole time they were slipping their jackets and scarves on and then walking out the door and up the street. Merlin could make him go, could make him  _sing_ , but he could not make him enjoy it.

"At least tell me we're going to be singing  _good_  songs." Arthur said at last, his tone still sharp with his reluctance. He still didn't want to do this, but he at least needed Merlin to know he wasn't so mad he wouldn't  _talk_  to him.

"They're Christmas Carols, Arthur. They're all  _good_." Merlin rolled his eyes.

"You better make this up to me." He said then, just to have something else to say to him.

"Of course. As soon as we get home." He promised, leaning over to peck him on the cheek as they neared their friends.

Arthur didn't say another word of his reluctance, of his displeasure at being there once their friends welcomed them and Gwen passed them their song booklets, walking them through what they would be singing and how long they would be out there and other details she had thought through that Arthur didn't quite understand  _how_  she put so much thought into.

He kept his mouth shut, he walked with them, going to houses with lights on, ringing doorbells and singing  _Silent Night_  and  _Mary, Did You Know?,_ and  _Do You Hear What I Hear?,_ and  _Joy To The World_ , and every other carol he was directed to in his booklet until their voices were hoarse and his nose was frozen and everyone was laughing and smiling and commenting on what a great job they'd all done.

Most of the houses they went to had people who listened to them through the whole song they sang to them, smiling and nodded and sometimes even singing along with them. A few of their stops had people generous enough to offer them eggnog and warm apple cider and they all accepted graciously, loosening them all up even more for the next house they would stop at.

And Arthur actually found himself.. Well, enjoying it. He didn't want to. He wanted to be miserable and brooding, and have to remind Merlin when they got home that he  _so owed him_  for what he'd had to go through that night...

But he enjoyed it too much. He enjoyed being with their friends and making other people smile, he enjoyed the way Merlin glanced at him sideways, the way he looped his arm through his after every house, the way he kissed him silly at the most random of moments. He  _enjoyed_  giving in to the damn peer pressure that he'd always thought to ignore.

When they finally got home, Merlin shrugged out of his coat as Arthur closed and locked the door, chattering about how the cookies would have to wait until morning because he was  _dead tired_ —

Arthur had him pinned to the wall by the coat rack before he could finish the sentence, kissing him hard and sweet and tender, nipping at his bottom lip when he arched his head back. Arthur could see the question in Merlin's half-lidded eyes, probably wondering what had brought this about. Just a few hours ago, he'd been pissed, acting like a stubborn child who was being forced to do something particularly grown-up, but now,  _now_  he was grinning and kissing Merlin's neck, chuckling against his warming skin.

"I just…" he mumbled. "Thank you for pushing me off the bridge tonight,  _Mer_ lin. It was…  _fun_." He admitted, kissing the superior, 'I told you so' look off his face before it could form itself into a coherent sentence.

 

* * *

 

 

 

 


End file.
